Field Notes: Project Runway, The Devil Wears Prada, and Natural Dyeing

I have decided to add a fairly informal component to the blog -- a sort of journal of some of my wild thoughts for the week, a more personal side of me. In Field Notes I will share what I am currently intrigued by and obsessed with in regard to sewing, textiles, fashion. Basically, what is taking up space in my head these days. 

Let's begin this conversation with Project Runway. Yes, I know I am twenty years late to the party. I regret that in 2004 I wasn't having Project Runway watch parties. But it is what it is, and I am essentially and gleefully caught up now. I started watching Project Runway sometime last year and just finished Season 16 this week. From the time I began my little Project Project, I watched one or two episodes just about every night before bed. Sometimes I binged on three episodes, I will admit. I could certainly write a number of entire posts about Project Runway, but I don't feel like it, mainly because, well, the party is over now...and the point of Field Notes is to be brief. I do, however, want to say a couple broad, random things about it. I love Tim and Heidi. I missed Michael Kors when he left the judging team. (The things he said were epic.) I definitely had my favorite and least favorite contestants throughout the course of it all. And that's pretty much that. 

After Project Runway, I immediately started watching Project Runway All Stars. I haven't finished the first episode. What a snoozefest. I quickly moved on to Making the Cut. I've watched one episode of that now. I will probably continue with Making the Cut because it is, after all, Tim and Heidi, and at the moment they are in Paris, but I don't yet feel the love for it in the way I did for Project Runway. I'm taking a bit of break to just watch some films. 

And so last night I rewatched The Devil Wears Prada. Great idea. Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci...what fun. And let's not forget New York City. I love New York City. 

Something else on my mind this week is natural dyeing. I have never done it, but I am now a bit obsessed with learning how to dye fabric with plants and food scraps. I am enough obsessed that I have checked a bunch of books out from the library, begun saving coffee grounds, tea bags, and onion skins, and went on an equipment-finding run to Goodwill. I will be sharing much more about this little meandering in the coming weeks and months. 

My "new" dye pots from Goodwill. 

What I am sewing this week: I am still working on my winter wardrobe. I have two pieces going at once. I started the Simplicity 9180 skirt and then needed an invisible zipper foot, so that project was put on hold temporarily. I now have the zipper foot but am apprehensive about sewing in an invisible zipper, so, naturally, I started on another project, the Seamwork Oliver sweater. The Oliver sweater is coming together pretty quickly. I just might finish it today. And I will tackle that invisible zipper in the next day or so. 

I would love to engage in a converssation here in Field Notes. In terms of sewing/fashion/textiles, what are you watching/reading/working on? Feel free to comment. 

Presenting Ensemble Sewing Studio: A Fabric Store Focusing on Artistry and Sustainability

Hey there, friends. There's a new online fabric store to check out. And it's mine.🤸

At the moment, it is small and cozy, but I have a vision and am taking my time growing Ensemble Sewing Studio into what I want it to be. My focus is on providing apparel sewists with beautiful and unique high quality fabric, something different from what the big chain fabric stores are carrying. I do love my local chain fabric store, and I am there on a weekly basis for one reason or another -- for thread, bias binding, zippers, fabric from the clearance shelves. But as I have become committed to making most of my own clothes, I find it difficult to acquire certain fabrics locally, such as twill, corduroy, colored denim. 

As well, many people who make their own clothes do so because they want to really personalize their wardrobe in a way they can't when buying ready to wear clothes. And choosing fabrics that express one's personality or align with one's values and ideologies is part of that process. Many home sewists are artists who aren't looking for the fastest and cheapest route but rather the one that reflects their own voice and results in clothing they proudly -- and joyfully -- wear. 

Here at Ensemble Sewing Studio, I want to honor the artist in both the sewist and the fabric maker. I want to find the fabrics that are yarn-dyed or handwoven or block printed. That is part of the reason growing this business is going to take some time. I also want to grow my business with sustainability in the forefront. What that means to me right now is focusing on carrying a range of natural fibers and organic fabrics. I also hope to further implement best practices in sustainability by adding a selection of re-homed fabric. 

I named my fabric shop Ensemble Sewing Studio partly because as apparel sewists we focus on the whole ensemble but mostly because ensemble means together in French. I don't want to just sell fabric; I want to build a community of sewists -- somehow, some way. I hope you will join me on this mission by bookmarking Ensemble Sewing Studio and checking back often to see what's new and by following along on social platforms (Instagram, Bluesky). 

I sincerely hope Ensemble Sewing Studio can be part of your creative process. 

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Ensemble Sewing Studio is an online fabric store located in Illinois -- fifty miles from Chicago. Your fabric orders will be packed with care and shipped promptly.

Winter Sewing: My Capsule Wardrobe for Winter 2025

I had so much fun planning and sewing my fall wardrobe that I decided to continue with Seamwork's Design Your Wardrobe for winter. I have scraps of paper with patterns and projects I want to make posted all over my studio bulletin board. When a new season rolls around, I have my reminders right in front of me. These are my priority makes, my dream projects. My list obsession made it relatively easy to decide what I wanted to add to my winter wardrobe. I also live in a part of the country that experiences very cold winters, so that factor figures quite a bit into narrowing down the list. January in Chicago is not the time to make that Sicily slip dress. 

So what did make the list? Two midi skirts, one pair of pants, a sweater, a blouse, and a vest. 

My Winter Wardrobe Plan

The Patterns:

• Seamwork Emmie Blouse
• Seamwork Oliver Sweater
• Syd Graham Ruby Vest
• Simplicity 9180 Skirt
• Neighborhood Patterns Plain Jane Skirt
• Seamwork Noah Pants

My color palette is blue, gray, and white, and I have named this collection Outside In because I want to make cozy pieces in a wintry color palette but pretty much stay in. If you know anything about winters in Northern Illinois, they are nothing like the ones in a Hallmark movie. 

At the moment, I have the Plain Jane Skirt and the Emmie Blouse finished and have cut out the Simplicity skirt. I have set a goal for myself to have this collection finished by March 1st. This season I want to focus on great layering pieces. Right now I am all about thick tights, warm scarves, and faux fur-lined boots, but some of these pieces will transition well into spring and possibly into summer, such as the Emmie Blouse, the Plain Jane Skirt, and the Noah Pants. 

If I haven't frozen to death by then, I will post another photo of this collection when it is done. 

Happy sewing, friends!

Hello, 2025! I Have Some Goals

As avid sewists, we always have goals, don't we?! Our want-to-make lists are fifty miles long, and our fabric stash... uh, yeah, let's not talk about that. But the first day of a new year is different. It's a moment to stand back, look at the whole picture, and decide what we want to be our biggest I-DID-IT moments at the end of the year. 

Sometimes not everything happens, and that's okay, too. When I made my list of big goals this time last year, I wanted to make a structured navy blue Parisian-style blazer in 2024. Didn't happen. And it still may not happen in 2025. I also wanted to make most of my new clothing for the year. That happened, I am proud to say. I added 25 new pieces of clothing to my wardrobe. I still can't get over it. I am sewing my own clothes, and I am not stopping anytime soon. I enjoyed every minute of the planning, fabric buying, and construction. Well, there were a few seams I didn't enjoy ripping out, but that is part of this journey, isn't it? And lessons were learned in the process. 

But this is a new year. A fresh start. No wonky seams to be ripped out...yet. 

And here in the dawn light of 2025, my overall goal is to continue to make most of my own clothes. And as I look at my want-to-make list, I see some special projects that I definitely want to tackle this year. Here is the official must-make-this-year list:

• I absolutely must have a matchy-matchy denim outfit, and I am looking at Seamwork's Audrey Jacket and Helen's Closet Brooks Jeans. 
• I am an older woman, but I want a slip dress. There. I'm not apologizing. Maybe I will even wear it on my 60th birthday. 
• A black leather A-line skirt. So classy. So versatile. 
• A Chanel-style jacket. Timeless. And the details are everything. 

Beyond my must-make list, I want to focus on fitting issues. Mainly, I want to conquer the rise when making pants. I have been avoiding pants for this very reason. And I want to delve a bit into patternmaking, not as a business venture but in order to begin designing my own clothes. (It's the Project Runway effect.)

At the moment, I am finalizing my winter wardrobe (I will be posting about this soon) and currently am working on a Seamwork Emmie blouse. 

Have you set forth some sewing goals, or do you prefer to let your creativity flow organically throughout the year? I like to have goals, but I definitely like to leave a lot of room for an organic creative process. Sometimes one thing just leads to another, and the flow of that process can be pretty amazing, too. 

I would love to hear about your 2025 sewing plans. Feel free to share in the comments. 

And aside from goals, I wish you a very Happy New Year. 

Thank you, 2024: A Reflection

As the end of the year got closer, I began to think about what I accomplished this year, and at first glance I didn't think I got all that much done. But a deeper look tells me otherwise. Last January I set the goal to begin making my own clothes, and with that commitment, an entire new direction in life opened up to me. It didn't happen immediately, and it wasn't even obvious to me until halfway through December. 

But let's talk about the overall picture first. I ended up making 25 new pieces of clothing for myself and one quilted Orbit handbag. I am so damn proud of that. None of that process felt forced. I was even a bit stunned when I looked at my project log to count up my makes for the year. If you are interested in seeing what I made all year long, you can see it all over at Instagram. It's clear that most of my time and energy was spent in my sewing studio this year -- and happily so. 

I found inspiration through social media (mainly the sewing community over on Instagram), podcasts (I have a couple favorites, but that is the topic of an upcoming post), and Seamwork, an online sewing community. Joining Seamwork was one of the best moves I made this past year. I took the Design Your Wardrobe course in August and designed my first seasonal wardrobe, an eight-piece capsule collection for fall. 

One of the big highlights of this year's sewing journey was being a member of the pattern-testing teams for the Plain Jane Skirt from Neighborhood Patterns and the Maisie Maxi Skirt by Elle Stitch. I love testing patterns, and I hope there will be more opportunities to do so in 2025. 

The Plain Jane Skirt by Neighborhood Patterns

Technology wise, I bought a projector and learned the whole process of utilizing digital patterns. This was a great move -- a real game changer. I now can find a pattern online, download it, and project it onto my fabric in a matter of minutes. Some of the advantages include not having to store more paper patterns, being able to reuse a pattern without it being tattered, and being able to size up or down easily in the projector software. Most of the projects I make are from projector files. 

Just finished cutting out Seamwork's Sonya Dress from the projector file

I mentioned that an entire new direction in life has opened up for me as a result of my return to sewing. After spending twelve months sewing on an almost daily basis, I have come to realize that sewing became my life. It wasn't just a whim, another hobby that I took up for a few weeks and then moved on from. I sit here now on December 31st and cannot believe an entire year has gone by and still I am as enthusiastic now as I was last January -- actually even more so. I have bigger things to share very soon -- more commitments, more projects. 

Right now, I am grateful for this sewing life and all of those who were part of it this year. 

Happy New Year, friends.